It is now official. As expected, Scuderia Ferrari’s right of review into Spanish driver Carlos Sainz’s time penalty in the 2023 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park circuit has been rejected.
The Ferrari man was given a five-second time penalty in Australia after the race stewards felt he was to blame for a collision with the Aston Martin car of Fernando Alonso in a controversial final standing restart in Melbourne.
Given the fact that the Australian Grand Prix eventually ended behind the safety car, the Spaniard was sent from P4 to outside the top ten, without the chance to recover any of the lost ground.
The Maranello team attempted to overturn the decision and requested a right of review, as is allowed under the current Formula 1 rules and regulations. A virtual hearing was scheduled for Tuesday morning with the goal of evaluating the validity of the Italian side’s appeal.
In order for the original hearing to be re-opened, the Scuderia tried to introduce what it felt was significant, new and relevant evidence which was not taken into consideration at that moment during the Grand Prix. However, as expected, the stewards felt that Ferrari was not able to provide such information and as a result the right of review has not been deemed as admissible.
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It means the final order from the 2023 Formula One Australian Grand Prix will not be changed, with Ferrari leaving Melbourne without any points.
The Maranello team introduced telemetry data from the Carlos Sainz – Fernando Alonso moment, in addition to witness statements from the Ferrari man and other drivers, but this was not considered relevant to change the initial decision.
